sandell



(No Model.)

3 SheetsSheet 1. G. SANDELL. AUTOMATIC HOLDER FOR LEAD CRAYONS. No. 394,401.

Patented Dec. 11, 1888.

(No Model.) 3 SheetsSheet 2. G. SANDELL.

AUTOMATIC HOLDER FOR LEAD GRAYONS.

No. 894,401. Patented Dec. 11, 1888.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

G. SANDELL.

AUTOMATIC HOLDER FOR LEAD GRAYON-S.

No. 394,401. Patented Dec. 11, 1888.

ULII L E5555 M V r UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GUSTAF SANDELL, OF NE? YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE EAGLE PENCIL COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

AUTOMATIC HOLDER FOR LEAD CRAYONS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 394,401, dated December 11, 1888.

Application filed October 2, 1888. Serial No. 287,015. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GUSTAF SANDELL, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Holders for Lead Crayons and other Articles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is directed to a holder for pencil-leads and other articles in which the carrier for the lead or other article is free to move by gravity within predetermined limits within the case or sheath of the holder, and is combined with a gravity-lock which automatically locks it in protruded position when the holder is held point downward and automatically releases it and permits it to drop back when the holder is held point upward. Such a holder, broadly considered, is not new with me.

My invention resides in the combination of instrumentalities, hereinafter described, for obtaining a pencil action of the above character, and also in the means, which will be hereinafter described, for advancing the carrier in order to compensate for the wear of the lead.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal axial section of the complete holder with the parts in the position which they assume when the holder is point upward. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the parts in this position with the extended sheath or handle D removed. Fig. 3 is a like elevation of the same parts looking from the side opposite to that represented in Fig. 2. Figs. 4 and 5 are side elevations from opposite sides of these parts in the position which they assume when the pencil is held point downward and the oscillatory gravity follower has dropped half-way. Figs. 6 and 7 are views similar to Figs. 4 and 5, respectively, representing the parts in the position which they assume when the gravity-follower has dropped the full distance. Figs. 8 to 11, inclusive, are intended to illustrate more clearly the mechanism for feeding forward the lead and the mode of operation of the same. Fig. 8 is a sectional elevation of the upper portion of the working parts of the pencil, representing the pressure-cap E and lifter-stem E depressed, so as to cause the hook G to engage the folfrom the lifter, has just commenced to drop.

The position of the V-slot d with reference to pin e at the time the follower is raised by the lifter to the full extent (and before the follower has commenced to drop) is indicated in Fig. 11 by dotted lines.

The essential parts of the pencil, so far as the automatic or gravity action is concerned, are the carrier A, the toothed tube B, and the follower-tube (as it may conveniently be termed) C.

The carrier A, as shown, can be a mere sheetmetal tube, into the front end of which the lead 00 is inserted. It is provided with a lug or fin, a.

The toothed tube B has a longitudinal slot, b, bounded along its edge by teeth 0 c. The teeth 0 on one side are pointed in a reverse direction to those, 0', on the other side, and the two rows of teeth are so fashioned and of such size that those of the one row will enter the space between those of the other row, thus forming in the toothed tube what is virtually a zigzag longitudinal passage. The teeth of each row are spaced evenly, and the distance between the point of one tooth and the point of the next is the limit of the automatic or gravity movement of the carrier.

The follower-tube C is longitudinally slotted at f, and is of a size to loosely encircle the toothed tube B, on which it is mounted, the two tubes having a pin-and-slot connection, the slot being of a V form approximately. In this instance the slot (1 is in the tube C, and the pin e is on the tube B. The follmver-tube O is free to move on tube B within the limits of the slot (1, and in so moving manifestly it will have not only longitudinal movement but also an oscillatory movement on its axis.

The carrier A is received in the toothed tube B and loosely fits therein, and its lug 0r fin a projects out through the slot in the tube B into the slot in tube 0. The two tubes B and C are so connected by the pin-and-slot connection d and e that at either extreme of its movement the tube 0 will tend to jam the lug a over into the angle of junction of two contiguous teeth of the row 0 and against the shoulder formed by the rear tooth of the two, and the extent of its oscillatory movement is I such that it will direct the lug along the sinuous or zigzag path which leads from one tooth to the next, permitting, however, the lug to travel only the distance which separates the point of one tooth from the point of the next during each complete oscillation. The toothed tube B is made fast to a sheath or handle, D, and the tip D of the handle may be removably secured to it by a bayonet-joint or otherwise, so as to permit the tip to be removed whenever it is necessary to reverse the lead.

The operation of the parts thus far described is as follows: YVhen the pencil is point upward, the parts are in the position shown in Figs. 1 to 3, the lug a resting against the square shoulder or face of one of the teeth 0, and being heldin that position by the tubefollower 0. As soon as the pencil is turned point downward the follower-tube will drop, the one leg of the V-slot d, which is first traversed by pin e, causing the tube to turn in a direction to allow lug a of thecarrier to follow down the inclined face of the tooth a next in front until it is directed over onto and rests upon the square face of adjoining tooth c of the other row, in which position it is opposite to the passage between the square face of the tooth c and the square face of the tooth 0 last above mentioned, as seen in Fig. 4. At this time the pin 6 will be in the angle of the V- slot d and the follower-tube will be at the extreme of its oscillatory movement in one direction, Fig. 5. Further downward movement of the follower-tube causes it to oscillate in the opposite direction, thus forcing the lug a over through the passage between the square faces of the teeth 0 and c. The follower-tube by the time it has finished its downward course, traveling, as it does, over the reverselyinclined leg of the V-slot, will have carried the lug under. and locked it against the square shoulder of the tooth c, as seen in Fig. 6. The reverse takes place when the pencil is again turned upward, the follower-tube serving to direct the carrier-pin a back to the original position occupied by it in Fig. 1.

I have, for greater clearness, represented in several figures the different positions assumed by the parts during the course of the opera tion; but, as a matter of fact, the whole action is practically instantaneous.

In order to compensate for the wear of the lead the carrier can readily be advanced by holding the pencil-point downward and then jerking it up sufficiently suddenly to throw up the follower-tube, allowing it to fall again by its weight; but in order to provide a more effective means for this purpose I have devised a mechanism consisting of a spring-retracted pressure cap or lifter, consisting of a end of the lifter-stem is a spring-hook, g,whicl1,

when the stem is pushed inwardly, protrudes through an opening or'slot, h, in the tube B. When the stem is retracted, the hook is depressed under a shoulder, i, on tube B. A shoulder, 7.2, is provided on the follower-tube C, said shoulder in this instance being formed by cutting or slotting the follower-tube at l.

The operation of the parts is as follows: The pencil is held point downward, so that the follower-tube is in its lowest position. The lifterstem is now depressed until its spring-hook rides under and beyond and catches the shoulder 70. Pressure on the lifter-stem being removed, it is at once retracted by its spring, and in so moving its spring-hook lifts the follower-tube far enoughto cause the pin 6 to reach the angle of the V-slot d, at which time the spring-hook will strike the shoulder 71, will consequently be depressed and release its hold on the shoulder is, and the tube 0 will again drop. During this movement of the tube the carrier-tube, by gravity, will have dropped from one tooth, c, to the next, and so on until the lead has been protruded to the desired extent.

With respect to the tubes B and O, manifestly the position of the parts can be reversedthat is to say, the toothed tube can be upon the outside of the other and the arrangement of the two can be otherwise varied, what is essential being that the two should be capable of the described longitudinal and oscillatory movement relatively to each other.

Having described my improvement, what I claim as new and of my own invention is 1. The combination of the longitudinally slotted and toothed tube, the slotted longitudinally-movable and oscillatory followertube loosely mounted on said tube, and the carrier contained and movable by gravity within the toothed tube and provided with a,

pin or lug projecting through the slot in the toothed tube into the longitudinal slot in the carrier-tube, the combination being and 'act in g substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

2. The combination of the sheath or handle, the longitudinally slotted and toothed tube fixed to said handle, the longitudinally slotted and movable gravity follower-tube loosely surrounding said toothed tube and connected thereto by a pin-and -V-slot connection, and the carrier loose within the toothed tube and provided with a fin or lug, which projects through the toothed slot in the said tube into the longitudinal slot in the follower-tube, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

3. The combination of the longitudinally slotted and toothed tube, the slotted longimanner substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 27th day of September, 1888. GUSTAF SANDELL.

Vitnesses:

SAMUEL KRAUS, S. BRAIsTED. 

